Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The Must-Have Kitchen Gadget

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Unusual and Creative Gadget The Must-Have Kitchen Gadget 2011 Most Essential Appliances Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Sunday January 23, 2011. Jack LaLanne, the world-famous bodybuilder who helped Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Jenn D. Posted by. Jenn D. on Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM. 14 Replies. I have a very small kitchen. I live in an apartment In search of must-have kitchen gadgets? You've come to the right place! Must-have kitchen gadgets. Play. Pause. Playback speed options. Which of these gadgets would you love to have in 2011?

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Schmitt_Zibdiye_10-29_post.jpg

Maggie Schmitt

In this gadget-riddled world, far be it from me to come out promoting a new must-have kitchen gewgaw. But I came back from doing field research in the Gaza Strip this summer with a zibdiye and it has become my most precious kitchen item, in constant use. I thought I'd share the joys of this most rudimentary and perfect object.

A zibdiye is a heavy unglazed clay bowl, accompanied by a lemonwood pestle. Throughout the Gaza Strip—and to my knowledge, nowhere else—this one implement has so many different uses it can be seen as a key to the whole cuisine.

To begin with, it is used for grinding spices, as an ordinary mortar and pestle would be. This might mean black pepper and allspice to give aroma to a soup of green wheat and chicken broth, or toasted coriander seeds to brighten lentils, or a precious drop of mastic to perfume a creamy dessert.

The rough walls of the zibdiye are perfect for crushing garlic to a smooth pulp, perhaps to preparedugga, the blazingly hot sauce of chiles, garlic, and lemon juice that accompanies many of Gaza's most traditional main courses. Or to crush onion and fresh dill just until fragrant before mixing them into steaming maftool, a sort of Gazan couscous.

Schmitt_Zibdiye_10-29_inpost.JPG

Maggie Schmitt

And then there are the salads, a flurry of color prepared and served in the trusty zibdiye. Onions and tomatoes can be crushed lightly with lemon and green herbs, or else smothered with a bit of tahini and oil, or mixed with a bright fistful of chopped arugula. Red cabbage, sliced and ever-so-lightly crushed in the zibdiye with a little onion and a dousing of apple vinegar quickly becomes a fuchsia blaze. Avocado whipped in the zibdiye with onion, lemon, and olive oil becomes a luxurious pale cream. With every meal a slightly different salad, all crushed and mixed and served in the zibdiye, which doubles as a handsome bowl.

But wait! That is not all. It is also a cooking vessel! The beloved zibdiyet gambari is a shrimp stew covered in pine nuts and baked in a zibdiye until crusty on the outside and melting inside. Tiny spiced meatballs are baked in a tomato sauce in the zibdiye, and vegetables stewed in the zibdiye with a crust of golden potato slices is a favorite lenten meal among the Christian population. Larger clay pots are used to make the magnificent festive meal of qidraa (more on that later); what is made in the zibdiye is small, modest, around-the-house.

One of the women we interviewed about food traditions and cooking habits in Gaza commented that her weathered and chipped zibdiye had been with her for some 20 years of constant use. Not bad for an object that costs about 50 cents at the market. It is beautiful to see the harmony of person and tool, the graceful efficiency with which this woman ground, mashed, crushed, and stirred in the zibdiye—its pestle worn to the shape of her hand— as she bustled around the kitchen, lord of her small but impeccably organized domain.

The zibdiye has pride of place in every Gazan kitchen we visited: the rich ones and the poor ones, spacious kitchens with every modern convenience and kitchens that were no more than a gas burner in the corner of a one-room shelter. An earthen crucible in which generations of women have made culinary magic, irrespective of often terrible circumstances.

Well there you have it, my three must have kitchen gadgets for this year . By : rasiasharmal Food and Beverage I have lots of kitchen gadgets. I had one but it must have gotten broken since I can no longer find it Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the Money. 1/6/2011. Buy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some investments, but when it comes to kitchen  I don't really have room for gadgets and I'm so old fashioned . I must confess I don't see the purpose of a 'real' blender, . Most pointless kitchen gadget? Garlic press by a country mile.

Related: kitchenaid, kitchen gadgets, gadgets, epicurious.com, cuisinart, . Must-Have Kitchen Item of 2011: The Dutch Oven brings you kitchen style advice on must-have kitchen gadgets. . The latest kitchen gadgets save time, look great and get results Five Top Must Have Kitchen Tools and Gadgets for Cook . February 4th, 2011. 25 Of the Most Impressive Sofa Designs for Decorating A must-have kitchen gadget. a home owner, looking for durability, . We've used all of them, and have had no problems at all

There are eight kitchen gadgets that not only make your life easier when entertaining but that are veritable must-have kitchen stuff  Must have kitchen gadget: Tefal Toast n Egg. Baking tools: William Bounds Sili Gourmet Bake Liners - A must have for every . Wed, 01/26/2011 - 10:39. View all Kitchen Gadgets View images and photos in CNET's Photos: 12 must-have kitchen gadgets - A digital thermometer is . A digital thermometer is one of those gadgets that may seem unnecessary  have learned the benefits of many kitchen gadgets along the way! Gadgets . Must have kitchen gadgets. Describe each. Why are they necessary?

Find out which kitchen gadgets are a must have on your wedding registry must-have kitchen gadgets you'll actually use . Here, some new kitchen tools that are downright mouthwatering Investor Relations Must-Have Kitchen Gadget From the Gaza Strip. SEC's Own Books are A Mess nterviews with culinary masters, cookbook reviews, kitchen gadgets,. How to select, use and care for kitchen knives. Jan 13, 2011 - Paul Gordon. The tagine has become one of the latest must-have kitchen gadgets for the home chief a Must-Have kitchen gadget. But after sharing my affection for this wonderful. English Mum 1/31/2011 11:14:42 AM Flag as inappropriate Must Have Kitchen Gadgets for the Non-Chef

Most Essential Appliances Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Sunday January 23, 2011. Jack LaLanne, the world-famous bodybuilder who helped Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Jenn D. Posted by. Jenn D. on Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM. 14 Replies. I have a very small kitchen. I live in an apartment In search of must-have kitchen gadgets? You've come to the right place! Must-have kitchen gadgets. Play. Pause. Playback speed options. Which of these gadgets would you love to have in 2011?

I wanted to share with y'all 5 little must have kitchen gadgets that make being in the Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the Money. Date: 2011-01-06 06:28:12 in Health blogs. Buy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some Seven must-have kitchen gadgets, and three to avoid | Gadgets9.com. January 18, 2011 recipevid So far all of my must have kitchen gadgets have been appliances.. This is just a list of some of the must have kitchen gadgets

7 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the. Buy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some Reporting on all the latest cool gadgets in the ongoing quest for the 7 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the Money | WOPULAR Coolest Gadgets - reporting on the latest cool gadgets Reporting on all the latest cool gadgets in the ongoing quest for the 2011. We have reported on some cool weapons made from. Where to Find Wholesale Kitchen Gadgets 20 Jan 2011. touting the amazing features of a must-have kitchen gadget. Where to Find Wholesale Kitchen Gadgets

See what you think and post your favorite kitchen gadget or tool.. Microplane grater is a must have. Inexpensive and wonderful for grading cheese,. 1/18/ 2011 9:40:53 PM Can you clarify about palm and coconut oils?. Must-have kitchen gadgets list compiled - Kitchen sink - Simply Must-have kitchen gadgets list compiled - Kitchen sink - Simply Kitchen. Stainless steel kitchen sinks praised in new guide

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Must Have Kitchen Gadgets 2011

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Unusual and Creative GadgetBuy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some investments, but when it comes to kitchen equipment, it isn’t always sound advice. We’d all like to think an ice cream maker will lead to gallons of homemade creations that would make Ben & Jerry envious, and that a juicer will help us pick up healthier habits with a daily kale and wheat grass concoction. In the end, many of us leave those pricey gadgets gathering dust in the pantry. Must Have Kitchen Gadgets for the Non-Chef

Must-Have Kitchen Gadget From the Gaza Strip. SEC's Own Books are A Mess nterviews with culinary masters, cookbook reviews, kitchen gadgets,. How to select, use and care for kitchen knives. Jan 13, 2011 - Paul Gordon. The tagine has become one of the latest must-have kitchen gadgets for the home chief a Must-Have kitchen gadget. But after sharing my affection for this wonderful. English Mum 1/31/2011 11:14:42 AM Flag as inappropriate

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image

The easiest way to gauge an item’s usefulness in your kitchen is to estimate its cost per use. Frugal Foodie’s $50 ice-cream maker that has been used three times, in retrospect, was a waste — that ice cream cost $16.67 before ingredients. But her fancy $200 stand mixer, which she has used weekly since receiving it as a gift five years ago is down to about $0.77 per use. Well worth the cost.

We asked chefs, nutritionists and avid home cooks which kitchen gear offers the best bang for your buck. (Check back next week for some of the gadgets they hate.) How about you? Leave us a comment below – which kitchen item has paid for itself?

Microplane

Roughly $15

Several chefs told us that they just couldn’t live without one of these fine, sharp graters. They’re versatile enough to handle softer things like citrus, ginger and garlic as well as tougher nutmeg, chocolate and Parmesan cheese, says personal chef Kathy Rana of Madeline’s Table. Although you can buy ones with various specialties (citrus, spices), an all-purpose one is really all you need.

Pressure Cooker

$30 and up

“I used to not understand what all the fuss was about a pressure cooker was — now I won’t be without one,” says personal chef Cathy Marella-Luce of Magical Meals Personal Chef Service. Cookers use less energy than oven cooking or steaming, and are significantly faster. They’re also fairly foolproof, Marella-Luce says. “Who thought you could make garbanzo beans, from scratch, in 15 minutes – or perfect, flavorful, beyond tender pot roast in 50 minutes?”

Stand mixer

$80 and up

“You try beating four egg whites until stiff — you’ll end up looking like Popeye,” jokes Ontario barrister and avid cook James M. MacMillan. Not only do stand mixers make meringues and whipped cream faster, they’re capable of heavy-duty or big-batch mixing of cakes, cookies and other types of dough. You can also buy attachments ($10 and up) to grind meat, roll out pasta and make ice cream, among other tasks, says home cook Lisa Lawrence. “The cost per use of this piece of equipment is nearly nothing at this point,” she says of her nearly 20-year-old mixer.

Chef’s knife

$35 and up

“Buy one good knife and it can do virtually all your cutting,” says holistic nutritionist Bernadette Armiento of Shining Life Nutrition. “I do 99% of my slicing with one, and use a serrated knife for bread.” Marella-Luce says price is less important than finding a knife that can be sharpened, which lets you get the perfect edge to make cutting, chopping and slicing easier. (While you’re at it, pick up a sharpener to keep on hand.)

Food processor

$40 and up

A good-quality food processor is a kitchen workhorse, one that can last decades, Armiento says. Various attachments, blades and settings let food processors handle a variety of tasks, from chopping veggies to whirring stale bread into breadcrumbs and blending butter into dry ingredients for pie crust.

Slow-cooker

$20 and up

Versatility makes it easy to get your money’s worth out of this appliance. “You can wake up to hot oatmeal for breakfast and come home to a complete meal in the evenings,” says Rachelle Strauss of “Little Green Blog”. Soups, chili, roasts, punch, cakes — there are slow-cooker recipes for all of them. Plus, you’ll spend less time actively working in the kitchen.

High-speed blender

$100 and up

Invest in a high-powered blender and you won’t need a juicer, says registered dietician Elizabeth Di Biase. You may even be able to ditch a cheap food processor. A blender that can tackle whole foods lets you make more from scratch, such as homemade nut butters. It also better breaks down fruits and vegetables, letting you keep the pulp (and so, healthy fiber) in smoothies and soups, Di Biase says.

Most Essential Appliances Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Sunday January 23, 2011. Jack LaLanne, the world-famous bodybuilder who helped Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets. Jenn D. Posted by. Jenn D. on Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM. 14 Replies. I have a very small kitchen. I live in an apartment In search of must-have kitchen gadgets? You've come to the right place! Must-have kitchen gadgets. Play. Pause. Playback speed options. Which of these gadgets would you love to have in 2011?

I wanted to share with y'all 5 little must have kitchen gadgets that make being in the Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the Money. Date: 2011-01-06 06:28:12 in Health blogs. Buy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some Seven must-have kitchen gadgets, and three to avoid | Gadgets9.com. January 18, 2011 recipevid So far all of my must have kitchen gadgets have been appliances.. This is just a list of some of the must have kitchen gadgets

7 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the. Buy-and-hold may be a a workable strategy for some Reporting on all the latest cool gadgets in the ongoing quest for the 7 Must-Have Kitchen Gadgets That Are Worth the Money | WOPULAR Coolest Gadgets - reporting on the latest cool gadgets Reporting on all the latest cool gadgets in the ongoing quest for the 2011. We have reported on some cool weapons made from. Where to Find Wholesale Kitchen Gadgets 20 Jan 2011. touting the amazing features of a must-have kitchen gadget. Where to Find Wholesale Kitchen Gadgets

See what you think and post your favorite kitchen gadget or tool.. Microplane grater is a must have. Inexpensive and wonderful for grading cheese,. 1/18/ 2011 9:40:53 PM Can you clarify about palm and coconut oils?. Must-have kitchen gadgets list compiled - Kitchen sink - Simply Must-have kitchen gadgets list compiled - Kitchen sink - Simply Kitchen. Stainless steel kitchen sinks praised in new guide

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Monday, February 7, 2011

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

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eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readersAn e-book (or ebook, or eBook, depending upon who you ask) is the digital equivalent of a paper book. According to KiwiTech, the publishers of Classics2Go, the market for eBooks has increased more than 60% over the last six years and growth from this point is expected to be very strong.  We can reasonably connect the start of this burgeoning market to the release of the Amazon Kindle in 2007. Strong sales convinced some wary readers that this was a viable option.

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You could carry a few hundred books under your arm, and the reading experience was, well, acceptable. Going on a long trip? Wouldn't it be nice to take about 20 pounds of paper out of your luggage?

2007 also marked the introduction of the iPhone; it took about a year for eBook apps to appear on the iPhone. Now there are so many of them that finding the right one for your purposes can be a confusing prospect. I would like to clarify all this a bit by categorizing the four types of eBook apps, at least so far, and letting you know what you can expect from each.

In deciding upon an eBook reader you need to consider: what sort of material you will be reading, how much you are willing to spend (if anything) and the quality of the viewing experience.

Last year, Andrew Kazmierski and Phill Ryu released Classics (iTunes link). Their idea was to take a bunch of books in the public domain, 22 in the current release, and control all aspects of the user experience. We covered the first release of Classics upon its original release when its price was $2.99. Since then, the price has dropped to .99 and the number of books has increased.

This app looked so impressive that it was featured in an Apple iPhone commercial. Upon launch, the reader is presented with a nicely rendered wooden bookshelf displaying colorful dust jackets. Click on a book and start reading. There is no wait, since all the books were downloaded with the app. Future updates bring more books. The books are all the kind of classics that are on school reading lists ranging from Frankenstein and Dracula, to Hound of the Baskervilles.

The feature set is slim. Tap the right side of the screen or swipe right to left and the sepia toned pages turn using a pleasing animation. There are two buttons on the top of the screen. One brings down a maroon and gold bookmark and sends you to the bookshelf. When you click on the book again, you are brought to where you left off. The second button takes you to a table of contents. The bottom of the screen tells you the name of the chapter you are reading and what page you are on. The top of the screen displays the title of the book. Illustrations in books like Alice in Wonderland are nicely rendered, and the text is attractively formatted. A change in color of the title bar gives you an idea of where you are in the book.


A year later, KiwiTech put out the Classics2Go Collection, (iTunes link) also at $.99 which one-ups Classics considerably. It's the only other app with self-contained books, so once again the look is controlled by the developers. So what's improved? The book count is up to 47 and the bookshelf allows you to choose a book by sliding a panel of dust jackets or by the first letter of the title or author. Using what they call a Classique reader format, the graphics are more detailed & show an aged leather texture. The cover page of each book is utterly frame-able. The pages have an aged and mottled look to them. The fonts are pre-chosen for you and book illustrations are in full color. When you leave the book an even more nicely rendered bookmark with a tassel is displayed. The developers control the entire experience and have taken pains to make sure that it's a good one.

The feature set is about the same as Classics. To my eye, the Classics2Go Collection looks superior. The illustrations are in full color and the experience is more like opening a well aged volume. You can download a free lite version (iTunes link) containing a few books to check out the interface and catch up on a few classics you might have missed.

Take a look at this gallery comparing the two apps that make up the self-contained category.

Gallery: Classics and Classics2Go

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers


The second category is made of of independently produced apps that can download tens of thousands of books from the Project Gutenberg catalog. Project Gutenberg was started in 1971 as a volunteer effort to digitize all the great public domain classics. The catalog holds around 30,000 separate works that can be downloaded on demand. The two apps covered here, Freebooks (iTunes link) at $2.99 and Eucalyptus (iTunes link) at $9.99 are well-designed front-ends to Project Gutenberg. There is no instant reading since all of the book must first be downloaded from the massive database. Both apps make a point of telling you that there are no further charges other than that of the initial purchase. All books, from a staggeringly large selection, are free.

This is a double-edged sword. Since the display is no better than the rather flat and basically texty look of the source material, there are limited options to pretty things up. Freebooks, recently updated, adds features to make it more competitive, but what they and Eucalyptus can do is really no more than putting a Halloween mask on something simple and basic.

Freebooks uses a fixed font that can be adjusted to any one of five sizes. For a choice of background you are presented with the options of sepia, white or black. Black can be useful in low light; when chosen, the text becomes white and the background becomes black. This is a fairly common feature. There is also a slider bar at the bottom of the options screen that will whisk you to any requested page along with the number of pages in the work. Since we're dealing with quite a small screen, the number of pages can be tremendous. Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea clocks in at 1281 pages. The slider bar is in lieu of a table of contents which is not available.

Freebooks allows you to email the book to your computer for easier, but not as portable, reading. The font used is a bit harsh and declamatory, looking something like a text dump. There are no illustrations. Instead of flipping right to left, Freebooks has you tap or swipe bottom to top to flip a page and bottom to top, to go back. The page flipping animation is basic and doesn't adjust with the speed of your swipe.

The reading experience is not as pleasant as the two apps discussed previously where the developers have complete control over the source text. Although the developers did what they could to make things look good, they are limited in controlling their source material. Sometimes you have to wade through pages of Project Gutenberg information before you can get to the book. It's well done considering the content constraints and as you'll see the constraints get tighter and tighter as categories and amounts of functionality differ.

Since there are so many books to choose from, Freebooks provides a very nice search function, along with a listing of featured books, the top 25 books downloaded and a very useful list of genres ranging from Adventure to Young Readers.

Eucalyptus, the other entry in this category, does it better but at a much higher cost. For the money you get a table of contents, nicely positioned fonts and custom formatting. The page turning animation adjusts to the amount of speed you use to turn the pages. There's more to it than a simple page turning routine. As usual you swipe right to left to progress and left to right to go back. The developers of Eucalyptus turned out a Project Gutenberg front-end that is more developer controlled and less basic than Freebooks but at a slight cost in features, for the sake of a better reading experience. There are also no illustrations, but placeholders where the pictures should have been.

When you come back to a book, the pre-formatted page is dark and slowly brightens as if you turned on a reading light. This is a nice, but small, touch. You cannot change the font size or background color since those choices were aesthetically determined by the developers.

One major failing of Eucalyptus is that there is no genre listing to make your search more efficient. You can search for a book by name or author, but I don't think that's good enough when you're dealing with nearly 30,000 books. I prefer Freebooks' organized search capability to Eucalyptus's hit or miss structure.

But when it comes to readability, Eucalyptus wins. A decent question is, does it win by $7? That's for you to decide. If I planned to spend hundreds of hours reading a large number of books on my iPhone I'd go for Eucalyptus, but that's just me.

Take a look at some shots from both apps and decide for yourself:

Gallery: FreeBook and Eucalyptus

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers


Next comes a category of apps that I don't consider will last very long. These include eReader (iTunes link) and Stanza (iTunes link), in its present incarnation. They are both free.

Let's start with eReader. This app uses the Project Gutenberg catalog but it does a lot more that that. It uses content provider manybooks.com which also mines Project Gutenberg but it purports to add a good number of other books as well.

You can purchase new books via eReader.com, through a not-very-intuitive system, which sells new electronic books at prices ranging from a few dollars for a small book to twenty bucks or so for a very large book. Purchased books are placed on your Fictionwise bookshelf for later reading. Fictionwise as well as eReader.com are both owned by Barnes and Noble. Keep that in the back of your head, since this becomes important as the story progresses.

There are a ton of features in eReader. Some might consider it feature overkill. Some of the things you can do are: bookmarking, in-text word search, day for night color schemes where black on parchment becomes yellow type on a black background, an indicator giving you an idea of how far you've read into the book, automatic scrolling (where you can set the scrolling speed and just watch the screen scroll like a teleprompter) and a landscape mode which can be locked down if you don't want your screen changing format every time you turn it.

Fonts can be changed and re-sized. Line spacing, margins, and text justification can be set, as well as daytime and night time themes, hiding or showing status bars; there's even a Coverflow display of your titles, and the list goes on. The presentation is a little bit less polished than Classics, but about on par with Eucalyptus. The page themes allow for lots of colors and textures and I was able to get it to look pretty close to Classics, with the exception of no illustrations. The page turning animation is not as smooth as that found in others, but it's nearly a Swiss Army knife for both free and paid content. eReader is quite impressive as a total solution. It does give you most of the functionality of Eucalyptus but outdoes it in the amount of customization; for that, you can save yourself $8.00.

Here are some shots from eReader to give you an idea of what it does:

Gallery: eReader Pro

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers


Stanza is the most amazing eBook app I've come across. It does Fictionwise, it does Project Gutenberg, it has as many customization possibilities as eReader -- in fact the options screens looks quite similar. It does everything mentioned above but it has one more neat trick that no one else has: a desktop client.

Using the desktop Stanza for Macintosh client, you can take just about any document on your computer from all the eBook formats -- from .doc to .pdf to just about anything else you can think of -- translate one format to another on your Mac, and then by syncing the web client to the iPhone client, it's easy to transfer anything to the Stanza app. It can even translate various formats to run on the Amazon Kindle! I currently have a ton of Word documents, .pdf manuals and other effluvia all on my iPhone and now those are all readable through Stanza. Outside of Project Gutenberg and Fictionwise (still owned by Barnes & Noble), it also sells the O'Reilly catalog of technology titles including all the TidBITS 'Take Control' books, and a few other vendors.

The depth of options is just about a feature for feature match with that in eReader with some nice additions, like a built-in dictionary and the ability to annotate. Formatting is all custom and non-colored line drawings show up nicely.

Take a look at Stanza. It's pretty impressive, and free.

Gallery: Stanza app Gallery

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

The last category reminds me of some history when I was growing up. Back in the olden days there were no supermarkets or chain drug stores. Everything was a Mom and Pop enterprise. Stores used to be a place where everyone knew your name.

Then came the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which is A&P to us now, and suddenly small stores started closing at an alarming rate. Volume and and expanded inventory of choices built corporations from the ashes of friendly neighborhood stores. You knew your druggist by name and he knew you, your family and your medical problems. But then came CVS, Duane Reed and Rite Aid. There was a level of personality in retail that has long been buried.

Why am I telling you this? Because it's déjà vu all over again. Instead of Amazon and Barnes & Noble creating better reading experiences, they just bought the two best companies and will, in time, re-tool their proprietary apps to be state of the art.

So far the farthest along is found in the Barnes & Noble eReader. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but what it is, is the eReader app with Barnes & Noble colors and a fairly convoluted system of using Safari to get to the B&N site, hook up with your account, and buy something. Mel Martin went through the motions last month and found it to be a less than a satisfying experience. But his article was about online buying, and I'm sure that will be sorted out especially when in-app buying gets to be a commonly used function and apps are retooled to take advantage of it.

Here are some screen shots of the Barnes & Noble eReader. Quite impressive.

Gallery: Barnes & Noble eReadereBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readerseBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers


Amazon came out with their Amazon Kindle for the iPhone app (iTunes Link) and, for me, it was quite a disappointment.

Take a look:

Gallery: Kindle app

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers

eBook Roundup: 8 Apps for iPhone readers


Simply put, it has the same feature set as Freebooks but only gives you their Kindle store to buy books. No Project Gutenberg, no importing of anything, in fact hardly anything useful when compared to some of these other apps. Of course, if you have a Kindle it does let you easily transfer your purchased titles wirelessly between your iPhone/iPod touch, and back in March the reading experience was given a thumbs-up by Mel.

So what did Amazon do? They bought Lexcycle, the developers of Stanza. I would expect that any time now, Amazon will come out with a new version of Kindle for the iPhone that will, in effect, be a rebranded version of Stanza. Some things do get through the cracks, however. Amazon now owns Lexcycle/Stanza, Stanza sells current books through Fictionwise. Fictionwise is owned by Barnes & Noble. I didn't believe it either, but it's true. Amazon is making money for B&N, at least for now.

And so goes the sometimes psychotic and quite illogical story of the current eBook market for the iPhone.

Of course this is all going to change again. We've been hearing rumors that we can't fully substantiate, saying that Apple wants to make inroads into eBooks for the potential iTablet device and give Amazon a run for their money. While Erica reported that Apple was no longer accepting new eBook readers for the app store, Apple has responded, saying that it isn't the case; one eBook app in particular was blocked because of concerns that it might facilitate book piracy.

Whatever happens, I do see a future for Classics, Classics2Go, FreeBook and Eucalyptus (if they can just get real with their pricing), since those apps don't take a dime of revenue away from anyone, relying completely on either Project Gutenberg, or rolling it themselves.

For everything else, my crystal ball is cloudy, but if Apple can get their hands on a ton of eBook sales for the iTablet (or whatever it will be called), they can potentially clean up. Can the lightning of iTunes strike again? Speculation at the TUAW watercooler is that the educational market may be key -- there's a king's ransom in college textbook revenues every year. If Apple can negotiate a deal for textbooks on a tablet, they could have a hit on their hands.

We live in interesting times.

What do you think about this market niche? And can you imagine yourself reading War and Peace on an iPhone?

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

  1. 100 Most Wanted Useful & Free Mac Apps
  2. 10 Must-Have Android Apps for Business Carrier
  3. The Top iPhone Application Resource Sites
  4. Must Have iPhone Apps 2011
  5. 25 Best Ever Created Apps For iPhone: Must Have In 2011
  6. Our iPhone Apps sections has a number of iPhone Applications and gaming apps related posts.

Also don’t forget to subscribe! or be a fan on facebook must have web rss ahli desain

Continue Reading

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

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5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader AppsWhile you may well be excited about the Apple iPad and its iBookstore, iPhone and iPod touch owners choosing not to upgrade to the newest 9.7-inch device can still get e-reading on their iProduct right away thanks to a shelf-full of great e-book reading apps available now in the App Store. Though it’s unlikely you’ll want to consume War and Peace on your iPhone, having a few e-books on board for a quick read on the train or your lunch break is a great way to pass some time. And who knows, depending on the title, you might learn something new too.

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

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  4. Most Wanted iPhone Apps for Web Designers
  5. Free Most Wanted iPhone Games
  6. Our iPhone Apps sections has a number of iPhone Applications and gaming apps related posts.

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5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

Here we’ve pulled together a list of five free apps that offer you e-book reading abilities on your iPhone. So pick the one that suits you, get a title downloaded, and drift off into good-book bliss.


1. B&N eReader


5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

This free app from book selling giant Barnes & Noble comes with five free “classic” e-books (which we’d probably save for those so-bored-you-could-poke-yourself-in-the-eye-for-amusement moments) and a free copy of Merriam-Webster’s Pocket Dictionary. Any titles you download are stored in the cloud, so you can access them from a Mac or PC as well as different handheld devices.

The ability to change the background and text color to a scheme that suits you is very welcome on a non-e-ink display, while the swishy wow factor comes in with Cover Flow-style book browsing as shown in the screen grab above. Incidentally, Barnes & Noble also owns Fictionwise, the company behind the eReader app, which is also available for free in the App Store.

Cost: Free


2. Kindle for iPhone

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

This app can be used by those who are Kindle-less, but really shines for those that have bought into the Kindle ecosystem, as it offers Amazon’s clever “Whispersync” feature. It allows for seamless switching between the Kindle device and Kindle for iPhone. Whispersync knows where you are in a book, so you can read half a chapter on the bus, and when you get home, your Kindle device will give you the option to pick up where you left off, which is pretty clever. Another nice touch is the ability to lock the screen in portrait or landscape mode, so if you want to read in bed, the accelerometer won’t drive you nuts.

Cost: Free


3. Stanza

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

Although other e-reader apps support such titles, Stanza makes access to the 50,000 free e-books of Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks easy, and offers a similar number of titles you can pay for though partner stores.

Highlights of the Amazon-owned app include the ability to slide your finger across the screen to turn the page — a real winner for those not quite prepared to turn their back on the paper book experience. The option to make the background black and text white, therefore allowing you to read in the dark, appears to have saved many a marriage if the reader reviews are to be believed.

Cost: Free


4. Wattpad 100,000+ Books

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

The iPhone version of the online e-book community, Wattpad is a popular app with over 4 million downloads to date. What differentiates Wattpad from similar apps is the user-generated content. The system offers a publishing platform, meaning the novels, short stories, poetry and essays available through the app are more likely to be written by “Joe Bloggs” than J.K. Rowling. If you’re not one for amateur or fan fiction, or you work for the U.S. Copyright Office, you might want to skip this one.

Cost: Free


5. eBooks by Kobo

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

One to watch, with its Borders team-up promising new e-reading hardware in the future, Kobo is a good looking e-library with a focus on new books and best-sellers. Its glossy, image-laden interface is backed up by discounts on current titles (“up to 65% off!” claims the blurb) while one new (and current) e-book is offered as a free download each week, making this app a great option for a casual, or light reader looking for a regular and inexpensive literary entree.

Cost: Free


Bonus: ICDL Books for Children

5 Fantastic Free iPhone E-book Reader Apps

Offering just four books at present — two from the U.S., and one each from Palestine and Mongolia — the International Children’s Digital Library brings a small part of its worldwide collection of children’s books to the iPhone, with more promised in the future.

Cost: Free

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

  1. 100 Most Wanted Useful & Free Mac Apps
  2. 100 Most Wanted so Useful & Free iPad Apps
  3. 100 Most Useful iPhone Apps Free
  4. Most Wanted iPhone Apps for Web Designers
  5. Free Most Wanted iPhone Games
  6. Our iPhone Apps sections has a number of iPhone Applications and gaming apps related posts.

Also don’t forget to subscribe! or be a fan on facebook must have web rss ahli desain

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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Most Wanted Photoshop & Illustrator Tutorials,Brushes & EPS for Valentines

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Brush PhotoshopMost Wanted Photoshop & Illustrator Tutorials,Brushes & EPS for Valentines Valentines Day is fast approaching. And for sure lots of people will gonna be looking for some resources or anything that relate to Valentine activity. It could be like looking for tutorials on how to make Valentines Cards or Creating Cool Valentine Graphics for your special someone. Here I made a list of Most Wanted Photoshop and Illustrator Tutorial,Brushes,EPS,Tutorials and Icons for Valentines Day. This will help you make things more easier.

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Most Wanted Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes, .PSDs and Resources Brushes, Textures and Resources for Graphics Fan Art.  Most Wanted Free Photoshop Floral Brushes Set. Ultimate High Quality Free Grunge Brushes and Resources My Most Wanted include a Nissan Figaro, Boots Smooth Skin and a dilapidated flat to do up with vintage treasures We present to you this awesome collection of Photoshop brushes featuring various swirl and curl designs. Whether it's curly brushes, foliage swirl brush.

February 2009 Calendar Wallpaper

tut3

A Photoshop tutorial on how to make a February Calendar Wallpaper.

Creating a Simple Valentine’s Day e-Card

tut4

Learn how to create a simple Valentine’s Day e-card for your special someone – as a plan B, just in case you forget that present. In the process, you will learn how to create a brush of your own and edit some of its more advanced settings.

Valentines Day-Photoshop Style

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will teach you some nice techniques that could improve your experience and also help you make a great gift.

Valentine’s Day Ideas

tut5

Learn in this tutorial how to create a vector Valentine’s heart with additional effects and textures.

Valentine’s Day Cards

tut2

Learn how to design the background of heartshape forms for Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s day card

tut6

Learn how to design the background of heart shape forms for Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s day hearts

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Learn how to design an abstract background for Valentine’s Day, made very stylish.

Freebies

Photoshop Brushes

Vector ‘Style” Heart Photoshop Brushes

brush1

Set of 20 heart/valentine brushes made in PS7.

Heart Doodles

brush9

A shattered heart Brush style.

Brush Hearts

brush2

A set of 12 Different Heart Brushes.Compatible in CS2 and up.

Heart Doodles

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This is a set of hand drawn heart doodles.vectorized in Illustrator, and exported them to Photoshop.

Heart Stamps

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Valentines Brushes 2008

brush5

A set of 12 Different Brushes. Download and express your love…

Hearts II Photoshop Brushes

brush6

A set of 26 Brushes for Photoshop 7+, Photoshop Elements 2+, GIMP 2.2.6+ and the latest versions.Includes: grungy hearts, heart outlines, hearts with swirls, patterned hearts, glittery hearts, basic hearts, a broken stone heart (with a bandaid!), a checkered heart, a tribal heart, a dripping heart, a heart with splatters, and more!

Heart Attack

brush7

7 Brushes all in all. This Brushes are More on Grunge Style.

Photoshop Brushes- Hearts

brush8

23 or 24 heart brushes. All drawn by hand with an ink pen and the help of stencils. Made in Photoshop 7.

Illustrator .EPS/.AI

Free Vector Hearts

eps1

a set of 12 vector hearts in grunge style, with some dirty elements, splashes, scratches, sculls, blood and other rubbish. With wings, raylights and other misc elements.

Flowery Hearts

eps2

Two hearts with flowers around them in different colorstyles. Ready to be used with included HQ transparent png.

Vector Hearts

eps3

Hearts with rose and abstract heart in a package.

Lovely Heart

eps4

A lovely red golden heart with flowers, leaves and curls.

Heart Vectors

eps5

Assorted hearts and heart designs.

Vector Doodles

eps6

A Vector Doodles. an EPS file

Valentine’s Day Vector Hearts

eps7

Vector Hearts

Icons

Valentine Love Icons

icon1

These icons were designed to fit the romantic feel of the holiday. The “Valentine Love” free icon set comes with 12 high quality web icons in 32-bit transparency PNG and 32x32px, 48x48px and 128x128px size.

Hearts

icon2

Most Wanted Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes, .PSDs and Resources Brushes, Textures and Resources for Graphics Fan Art.  Most Wanted Free Photoshop Floral Brushes Set. Ultimate High Quality Free Grunge Brushes and Resources My Most Wanted include a Nissan Figaro, Boots Smooth Skin and a dilapidated flat to do up with vintage treasures We present to you this awesome collection of Photoshop brushes featuring various swirl and curl designs. Whether it's curly brushes, foliage swirl brush,

Cosmetics are one of the world's most wanted luxuries. This luxurious article cannot go unnoticed. So the MAC group has brought out a wide range of products  It's been used to make hair brushes for people for years. In…Most wanted When we wanted to get our hands on the best possible brushes for finishing, we were a bit stymied. Most of the finishing brushes brushes sold for Most wanted free fonts. most wanted free fonts from last week

So in today 's post, you'll find an assortment of top-notch tutorials, brushes, patterns, textures, actions and .PSD files that others have Noupe has gathered together an awesome list of 60 most wanted Photoshop tutorials and some awesome Photoshop Brushes, PSD files and So, these are just a few of my most-wanted cosmetic crushes – the loads of brands like Suqqu (the BEST brushes- another Japenese Most Wanted Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes, .PSDs and Resources | SulVision. Greatest Web Interface Design

Most are around 1700 pixels high or wide, so they're very high how does one "make" brushes on photoshop? I've always wanted to Free Most wanted Photoshop Fractal brushes Most Wanted Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes, .PSDs and Resources | Web Hosting and Domains. Photoshop Background Patterns The seven most wanted brushes for that perfect application of powder or blush. Presented in a golden color bag, with burned wood sticks. MAC Brushes Set 7 Brushes Set Makeup Cosmetics. Love sweeps you off your feet - so do these! The seven most wanted brushes for that perfect application of

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